benedict herzog



(No ModeL) K 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.-

F. B. HEBZOG'.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS AND CIRCUIT. No. 315,027. Patented Apr. 7. 1885.

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2 Sheets.Sheet 2.

F. B. HERZOG.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS AND CIRCUIT.

(No Model.)

' Patented Apr. 7, 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

E. BENEDICT HERZOG, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS AND CIRCUIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 315,027, dated April 7, 1885.

Application filed November 20, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, F. BENEDICT HERZOG, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Circuits for Latent-Signal Transmitters, of

which the following is'a specification.

In Letters Patent N 0. 289,834, issued to me December 11, 1883, I have described an automatic variable electric signaling-instrument applicable to telephone and many other uses, the main feature of which is, that although the instrument may be set at one station to transmit a desired signal to another, yet the signal, when so set, will not be sent to the receiving-station by the sending-operator or by the act or at the moment of setting it, (as is the case in all instruments'of the kind known generally as transmitters/U but my instrument retains the signal as set in a latent stat e, ready to be released, until it is so released, directly or indirectly, from the receivingstation by'an operator, who, if he desires to discover at what signal the instrument is set, actuafies certain releasingmechanism, when, if before that the instrument has been set to transmit any signal, that signal would be transmitted to the receiving-station without any further co-operation of the sending operation after he has once prepared the signal.

In this and in contemporaneous applications I call such an instrument a latent-signal transmitter, for the reason that the signal so set remains latent until released by the action of the receiving-operator.

It is desirable in many instances that the operator at the sending-station should be enabled to signal to the receiving-station that the latent-signal transmitter has been set and is ready to be released and to operate as soon as the receiving-operator is ready to receive its signal, and in any such event it is indispensable that the said signal or call shall be sent without releasing or affecting the latent signal transmitter. The object of my present invention is to provide for that contingency; and to this end the invention consists in combining with the instrumentalities hereinbefore referred to. a calling apparatus at the sending-station, an instrumentality to respond to that call at the receiving-station, and circuit-connections so organized and arranged that the two stations can bebrought into elec trical communication for the purpose of sending in a call to the receiving-station whenever desired without releasing or affecting the latent-signal transmitter. This result can be attained in various ways, some of which are described -in other pending applications in my name for Letters Patent-for example, Serial No. 144,194, filed September 29, 1884; Serial No. 146,447, filed October 26, 1884. In this specification, for the purpose of illustration, I represent the application of the invention to hotel use, the system thus represented comprising twoseparately operative circuits connecting the guests rooms or calling-offices with the clerks or receiving office, one circuit being employed to release the transmitter and receive the guests signal, and the other circuit being employed as a signaling-circuit to signal to the clerk that a guest has set his instrument; but to avoid the necessity of having two separate circuits to each of the guests rooms for this purpose, I have devised an arrangement by'which only a single set of separate circuits extending to each room is required, and two distant common return-circuits are employed, one for releasing and transmitting the guests signal, and the other for calling the clerk s attention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents the arrangement of circuits, showing my invention as applied to a hotel or similar centraloffice system. Fig. 2 is a front view of my signal-transmitter withthe frontof the case removed, showing its mechanism; and Fig. 3

represents the dial of a transmitting-instrument.

Each guests room or branch office (as many as desired) is connected by a separate circuit, a b c, &c., with the central or clerks office, situated either in the same or another building. Each of these individual circuits includes a latentsignal transmitter, A B G, &c., a circuit-changing button or key, (1 c f, &c., placed in the guests room, and a circuit device or spring-jack, D E F, &c., and an annunciator, H I J, &c., placed at the clerks office. After passing through the annnnciators all the circuits unite, as shown, and then lead through an electric bell, K, which rings (and continues to ring, if desired) when the annunciator is dropped, in order to call the cuit by connecting it with the common return-V circuit, as clearly seen from the drawings. Normally the keys d e f, &c., connect with their upper contact-points, as shown, so that the individual circuits lead through the guests transmitter A B G, 830., and thence through a common return-circuit back to the clerks office; thence through a battery, M, a switch, and a receiving-instrument, N, the other end of this instrument being connected to the spring -jack plug 'lt, insulated on the under side, so that by thrusting this plug into any V particular spring-jack the individual circuit is broken through the annunciator and connected with the receiving-instrument N and battery H.

The latent signal transmitter consists of the clock-work transmitter shown in detail in Fig. 2, the signal being transmitted by a breakwheel in circuit in a well-known manner, and the escapement being controlled by an electromagnet also included in the circuit, as shown, and as fully described in an application filed by me in the Patent Office September 29, 1884. To keep the escapement unlocked when the instrument is unwinding and sending its signalthat is, to prevent the armature from dropping back and locking the eseapement during the breaks in the circuit occasioned by the instrument itself in sending the signal-I employ a bent lever, Z, provided with a catch, with which the armature engages, which acts to hold up the armature clear of the escape ment as the instrument unwinds. In setting the instrument an arm, 0, fixed to the setting-spindle, kicks the lever Z aside, which allows the armature to drop and lock the escapement, so that the instrument will remain set until released by a current through the electro-magnet, this construction being fully described in the application filed September 29, 1884.. The spindle 0 projects through the dial from the front of the box and carries-a knob and pointer for setting it to'send the desired signal. It will be'understood that when the spindle is turned to the right in setting it it carries with it thebreak-wheel and winds up the usual actuating-spring without moving the escapement-gear, with which it is connected by a ratchet, (as transmitters are ordinarily constructed,) which allows the spindle to be set, but not to unwind without carrying with it the escapement.

Each transmitter A B O, &c., is constructed as I have described, the circuit leading through the break-wheel and contact-spring in the ordinary way, and thence through the releasing electro-magnet or mechanism.

The operation of my hotel system will now be understood. Suppose a guest wishes to call for a coup, for example. He sets the pointer of his transmitter over the word coupe on the dial, and then presses the calling-key-d', which of course may be made in the form of a push-button, or made apart of the transmitter for convenience, if preferred.

This operates the corresponding annunciator,

H, and calls the attention of the clerk. The clerk thereupon, as soon as he is ready to receive the signal, introduces the plug it in the spring-jack D, which introduces the battery M and receiver N into the circuit, and causes the guests transmitter to be released and send in its conventional signal, which would be understood by the clerk, and in this case would mean coupe. A sounder or any kind of receiving-instrument, N, may be used; but I prefer to employ avisual indicator provided with a dial and pointer, as shown,which follows the pointer of the transmitter, and is driven by it step by step in the well-known manner, so that the clerk is enabled to see at a glance, without counting, what the signal is, thus avoiding mistakes and saving time.

In my system any number of guests may set their transmitters at once without interfering, because the signals are not sent until the clerk is ready to receive them, when he rel-eases them one by one, as rapidly as desirable. By observingthe pointer of his transmitter, or listening to the noise of the clockwork as it unwinds, the guest can tell that the clerk has released his instrument and his wants are being attended to. v

The electro-magnet in the transmitters also enables a guest to be called at any time or awakened in the morning from the office by the clerks simply inserting the plug n in the proper circuit, and then closing and breaking the circuit rapidly, so as to cause the armature to vibrate, and thus make a noise; but I prefer in many cases to provide a calling-bell in each guests room for this purpose; butthis I make the subject of a separate application filed of even date herewith.

It may under some circumstances be desirable for the guest not to have to press aseparate key to call the clerk, and then I construct the transmitter so that the mere act of setting it automatically operates the calling apparatus and annunciator at the clerks office; but this feature I also make the subject of a separate application'filed of even date herewith.

out of order or fail to work, I have provided a duplicate receiving apparatus and a switch IIC In case the receiving apparatus should get evidently it may be employed in telephoneexchangesystems, private houses, and for any similar purposes, in which case subscribers offices would be furnished with the latent-signal transmitters and the central station with the annunciator, receiving apparatus, and circuit changers, or corresponding instrumentalities.

I also wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the specific circuit-connections and arrangement of instrumentalities illustrated in the drawings, inasmuch as the same can, as I havehereinbefore indicated, be widely varied without departure from my invention. What is essential is that, in connection with the latent-signal transmitter at the sending-station and apparatus at the receiving-station for releasing and responding to said latent-signal transmitter, there should be a calling apparatus at the sendingstation and an instrument at the receivingstation to respond thereto, these instrumentalities being electrically so connected that a call can be sent to the receiving-station from the sending-station without affecting or releasing the latent-signal transmitter at the latter, station. I remark, also, that the construction of the instruments themselves may be considerably varied without departure from my invention.

The call-receiving apparatus at the receiving-station may be one which merely responds to the call during the period of its transmission, as is the case with a bell, 810.; or it may be, and I prefer so to make it, a call-receiver, which after a call has been received remains for some time in a condition to indicate that this call has been made, as is the case with an annunciator, 8m, as herein shown.

WVhat therefore I here claim as new and of my own invention is l. The combination, with a latent-signal transmitter located at a sending-station and in direct circuit-connection with the receivingstati0n,and apparatus to release and respond to said transmitter at a receiving-station, ofa calling apparatus at the sending-station,an instrument to respond thereto at the receiving-station, and cireuitconuections, substantially as described, whereby the call denoting that the transmitter has been set and is ready to be re leased can be sent in without releasing or affecting said transmitter, substantially as here inbefore set forth. 2. The combination, with a latent-signal transmitter at a sending-station and apparatus to release and respond to said transmitter at a receiving-station, of a calling apparatus at the sending-station, and at the receiving-station a call-receiver, which continues to indicate that a call has been received after the calling apparatus at thesending-station has ceased to operate, and circuit-connections, substantially as described, whereby the call denoting that the transmitter has been set and is ready to be released can be sentin without releasing or affecting said transmitter, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination, with a latent-signal transmitter at a sending-station and apparatus to release and respond to said transmitter at a receiving-station, of a calling apparatus at the sendingstation, an instrument to respond thereto at the receiving-station, and two circuits, in one of which are the latent-signal transmitter and the releasing and responding apparatus, and in the other of which are the call-operating and call-receiving apparatus, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination of a latent-signal transmitter and a calling key or device at a sending-station, apparatus to release and respond to said latent-signal transmitter, and an instrument to respond to the said call at a receiving-station, a wire leading from the receiving to the sending station, two returnwires, and circuit-changers whereby the circuit can be completed through one or the other of the return-wires at will, according as it is desired to bring into action the latent-signal transmitter at the one station or the call-responding instrument at the other station, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

5. Two or more latent-signal transmitters placed in separate rooms or substations and connected by separate circuits with the central station or office, a battery and circuit-connections at the central office for releasing any of the transmitters, as desired, and two signal-receiving instruments combined with a switch at the central office and connected so that either receiving-instrument may be introduced into any of the separate circuits so as to receive the signal at pleasure, substantially as described.

Signed November 19, 1884.

F. BENEDICT HERZOG.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES G. OURTIs, CHARLES S. BRADLEY. 

